If BBH Labs Was Employing The Homeless To Register Voters Or As ‘Sex Workers’, Would It Be OK?

Posted on | March 14, 2012 | 13 Comments

by Smitty

I need a little help understanding where BBH went wrong. You’re a company, you see a market, you hire some people (jobs!) and then you get a bunch of blowback? You’re paying a wage to unskilled people to be wireless hotspots. Unless there is some medical objection (and maybe constant exposure to that level of RF radiation is not a swift idea) the basis for attacking BBH escapes me.

I can only figure that (a) somebody else’s business model is jeopardized by this, (b) the Left is looking for distraction from #OccupyResoluteDesk and the economy he’s parked in the toilet, or (c) it’s just sheer anti-capitalistic commie talk from the usual suspects.

Now, if they were ennobling the homeless by having them register voters, or having them advocate Sandra Fluke’s crotch maintenance requirements alongside the WiFi business, would that be OK? Maybe this is all a question of bundling.

Category: American Power

Comments

13 Responses to “If BBH Labs Was Employing The Homeless To Register Voters Or As ‘Sex Workers’, Would It Be OK?”

Sven
March 14th, 2012 @ 11:55 am

Sandra Fluke’s crotch maintenance requirements

You’re a pig.
DonaldDouglas
March 14th, 2012 @ 12:03 pm

Whoa, who’s Sven?
DonaldDouglas
March 14th, 2012 @ 12:04 pm

And as for BBH, they should pay the dude’s more than $20 a day. Otherwise, the homeless folks don’t seem to be complaining!
smitty
March 14th, 2012 @ 12:08 pm

No, a pig would probably be more interested.
Steve White
March 14th, 2012 @ 12:19 pm

As long as BBH obeys the law I don’t care.

But they weren’t obeying the minimum wage law. Dude is going to stand around all day wearing a sandwich board and serving as a human wifi hotspot, he deserves his $7.25 an hour.
elaine
March 14th, 2012 @ 1:23 pm

BBH Labs has a history of working with the homeless which doesn’t seem to be very thoughtful of the future needs/concerns of the homeless themselves. (In other words, it isn’t doing anything to help these people improve their long-term circumstances.)

http://underheardinnewyork.com/

They gave four homeless men cell phones and access to social media so they could share their plight with the larger world. The program was funded for 60 days, and then the plug suddenly yanked. No warning given to the men involved (some would say exploited) before the end of the project. It just ended.

Underheard came off like the human wifi hotspots did: as a publicity stunt for the company which used homeless people in kind of demeaning ways…
Sven
March 14th, 2012 @ 1:36 pm

Someone who’s not impressed by a guy who argues politics with a woman by calling her a slut.
Jeff C
March 14th, 2012 @ 1:41 pm

only in Ameritopia would paying someone to work be considered “not doing anything to help these people improve their long-term circumstances” …
maybe they should do what you and I do and avoid the homeless as much as possible …

I assume you measure every project against a government program but in the real world when a project is funded for 60 days it eads (suddenly with no warning) on the 61st day …
Adjoran
March 14th, 2012 @ 1:56 pm

Look, they got clean shirts, $20 a day, and whatever tips/donations they could con out of the conference attendees.

Did anyone force these people to do it? Any evidence of harm?

Sounds like fodder for the professional whining class – many of whom would also be complaining about the internet service if these guys weren’t around with their hot spots.
elaine
March 14th, 2012 @ 2:10 pm

It wasn’t a permanent, full-time job, which is what would be necessary to get someone out of the shelter and into their own home. It was a publicity stunt so they could say, “Hey, look at us! Aren’t we great people! We work with the homeless!”

I don’t know all the specifics of the Underheard program, only what I’ve read since yesterday. But I never saw anything that the homeless men were even paid for that one. Just given free cell phones and access to social media so they could tweet about their lives. That isn’t a job…

Also, there was no indication from BBH that the program would only last 60 days. As a matter of fact, the people who were running Underheard were just as surprised at the funding from BBH being yanked as the homeless guys were.

Look, I’m all for helping people get out of the hole they’re in — what I’m saying, though, is you’re not going to get out of that kind of situation by being given a cell phone so people more fortunate can live vicariously through your struggles. And you’ll not get out of it if you’re standing around being a human wifi spot for a weekend conference. People need a lot more than that to get out of being homeless.
Wombat_socho
March 14th, 2012 @ 2:34 pm

And you’re an idiot. *plonk*
Adjoran
March 14th, 2012 @ 3:18 pm

What are you, the Wi-Fi Hot Spot Fee Commissar now?
SDN
March 14th, 2012 @ 4:14 pm

Oink, Oink, baby..